Cibafi, World Bank to Host Corporate Governance Forum

Kuala Lumpur, MINA – The second joint international conference on “Corporate Governance of Islamic Financial Institutions: Overcoming Challenges and Implementing Best Practices” will be held on the sidelines of the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2018 (GIFF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 2, 2018.

The conference will be organised by the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), the global umbrella of Islamic financial institutions, and the World Bank (WB), Times of Aman reported.

This second edition of the conference follows a highly-successful first joint conference organised by Cibafi and WB in 2015 in Amman, Jordan. The objective of the conference is to reinforce both Cibafi and WB’s commitment to help foster the development of Islamic finance globally through the enhancement of corporate governance practices in Islamic financial institutions.

The conference brings together various corporate governance (CG) stakeholders from the Islamic finance industry (IFI), multilateral institutions, international and national regulatory bodies, policymakers, and academia to discuss emerging issues and best practices to ensure the industry’s continued success.

The delegates of the conference are expected to gain an exceptional opportunity to gather key insights into the most significant areas of corporate governance, including discussions on key challenges and opportunities.

The conference, organised under a collaborative memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Cibafi and WB, also falls under Cibafi’s strategic objective to increase the awareness of Islamic finance and promote information-sharing among its members and industry stakeholders.

The MoU between Cibafi and WB has also resulted in the launch of their first joint publication titled, “Corporate Governance Practices in Islamic Banks 2017,” which breaks new ground in the field of corporate governance for Islamic banks by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of CG practices in IFIs and proposing policy recommendations to improve these practices.

The report revealed that Islamic banks performed well in terms of their overall transparency, disclosure, internal control, and audit. However, they also face challenges in the areas of risk governance, Sharia governance, and the operations of their respective board of directors.

The upcoming conference will discuss issues such as board effectiveness, risk management, transparency and reporting requirements, as well as the role, accountability, and independence of Shariah Supervisory Boards in the light of strengthening regulatory regimes.(R/R04/RS5)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)